ousand years; but as to the time from the death of Moses till the
reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the
prophets, who were after Moses, wrote down what was done in their times
in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and
precepts for the conduct of human life. It is true, our history hath
been written since Artaxerxes very particularly, but hath not been
esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers,
because there hath not been an exact succession of prophets since that
time; and how firmly we have given credit to these books of our own
nation is evident by what we do; for during so many ages as have already
passed, no one has been so bold as either to add any thing to them,
to take any thing from them, or to make any change in them; but it is
become natural to all Jews immediately, and from their very birth, to
esteem these books to contain Divine doctrines, and to persist in them,
and, if occasion be willingly to die for them. For it is no new thing
for our captives, many of them in number, and frequently in time, to
be seen to endure racks and deaths of all kinds upon the theatres, that
they may not be obliged to say one word against our laws and the records
that contain them; whereas there are none at all among the Greeks who
would undergo the least harm on that account, no, nor in case all the
writings that are among them were to be destroyed; for they take them to
be such discourses as are framed agreeably to the inclinations of those
that write them; and they have justly the same opinion of the ancient
writers, since they see some of the present generation bold enough to
write about such affairs, wherein they were not present, nor had concern
enough to inform themselves about them from those that knew them;
examples of which may be had in this late war of ours, where some
persons have written histories, and published them, without having been
in the places concerned, or having been near them when the actions were
done; but these men put a few things together by hearsay, and insolently
abuse the world, and call these writings by the name of Histories.

9. As for myself, I have composed a true history of that whole war, and
of all the particulars that occurred therein, as having been concerned
in all its transactions; for I acted as general of those among us that
are named Galileans, as long as it was possible for us to make any
opposition. I w